1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a backlight unit, and more particularly, to a backlight unit and a display device including the backlight unit.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Today, it is desirable for high performance display devices to rapidly display various data, such as images, graphics, text, etc.
Liquid crystal display (LCD) devices have been gaining popularity owing to their compact size and low power consumption. LCD devices are currently used for various electronics, such as electronic watches, calculators, computers, TVs, and so on.
An LCD device includes an LCD panel for displaying images, and a backlight unit for supplying the LCD panel with light.
The LCD panel includes a thin film transistor (TFT) substrate and a color filter substrate. The TFT substrate includes a gate line, a data line, a TFT, and a pixel electrode. The color filter substrate includes a color filter and a common electrode. The LCD panel further includes a liquid crystal layer between the TFT substrate and the color filter substrate. The LCD panel displays images by adjusting light transmittance through liquid crystal molecules of the liquid crystal layer.
The backlight unit may include a fluorescent lamp or light emitting diodes (LED). Backlight units having LEDs may provide excellent color reproduction properties and low power consumption.
In large sized LCD devices, multiple LEDs are arranged under the LCD panel to directly illuminate the LCD panel. To further reduce power consumption, a dimming control method is employed for an LED display, which controls brightness of the LEDs. Such a dimming control method requires a number of cables to supply LED control signals to drivers of the LEDs.
The increase in number of the cables may cause a distortion of the LED control signals. This results in deteriorations of LCD display properties.